Improvement in treating gunpowder to form cartridges



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

R. O. DOREMUS AND B. L. lBUDD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT lN TREATING GUNPOWDER TO FORM CARTRIDGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,724., dated March18, 1862.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, R. OGDEN DOREMUS andBERN L. BUDD, of the city, county, and State of New York, have inventedor discovered a new Mode of Treating Gunpowder to Form it intoCartridges and for other Purposes; and we do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

Our invention has for its object the formation of ordinary gunpowderinto the various shapes it is found advantageous to employ it in theloading of firearms-that is to say, as cartridges, 8tc.in which shapingwe have been enabled to dispense with the use of paper, pasteboard,woolen, or cases of any kind.

The nature of our invention consists therefore in certain means whichhave been discovered by us, for molding the loose grains of powder intocertain fixed or solid forms or shapes, which it will retain under theusual handling and transportation of cartridges made in the old way, andthis formation we efl'ect without any deterioration of its qualities fordischarging projectiles from any of the known kinds of fire-arms, but,on the contrary, with greatly-improved efiect over loose powder. Thereresult certain great advantages from our process, among the mostimportant of which is the ability to govern the rapidity of combustion,either of the whole charge or of portions of it, whereby the principleof acceleration can be employed; second,reduction in bulk, so that alarger quantity may be transported in a given space than in the case ofgranular powder third, the granular form of the powder not destroyed,although compacted into masses, so that if occasion require said powdercan be easily reduced to its original condition without detriment;fourth, it does not deteriorate by age or require the continuousshifting and turning that loose powder does to prevent its caking;fifth, does not readily absorb moisture, and may be made whollywater-proof; sixth, is not liable to accidental explosions on account ofthe absence of loose grains; seventh, the powder is formed by ourprocess into cylinders, balls, or any other desired form to fit thebores of guns and of the weight suitable for each charge.

Our process is as follows: We procure suitable molds to receive thepowder to be formed into cartridges, with pistons fitted to them.

The molds being of the size and shape to give the correct form to thecartridge for the different-sized guns, loose powder is then poured intosuch a mold as has been selected, sufficient for a charge. The piston isthen fitted in and pressure applied until the powder is sufficientlycondensed to cause the grains to adhere to each other.

We have discovered that the rate of combustion of the intended cartridgecan be regulated by the different degrees of pressure applied to thepiston. Accordingly, having ascertained by experiments the best for thepurpose, it is only necessary to continue the application of the sameforce to all other charges to produce any quantity of cartridges of thesame quality.

In order to prepare cartridges upon the principle above described,various degrees of pressure will be employed, according to the nature ofthe fire-arm in which they are to be used, as well as the projectile tobe thrown. To prepare a cartridgeas, for example, for a six-poundercannon, in which one and a quarter pound of powder constitutes acharge-a cylindrical mold is to be formed of some suitable metal, asbrass, whose bore is such that the cartridge to be formed therein willenter the gun One and a quarter pound of powder is then to be introducedand the piston fitted in. Pressure is applied by means of any suitablemachine, as a hydraulic press, until the powder has been condensed by apower equivalent to fifteen tons weight. The piston is then to be takenout of the mold and the powder discharged. It will now be found to havebecome completely compacted into a solid mass, which may be handledwithoutrisk of breaking, and in which form the granular formationof thepowder still exists. In making charges which shall have different ratesof combustibility in the same cartridge, the powder must be introducedinto the mold in successive portions. Those for obtainiu g three ratesof combustiblity the powder must be divided into three parts orpertions. One portion isthen submitted to pressure, say, of twenty-fivetons, then the piston removed, and the next portion. poured upon thefirst, and pressure again applied up to twenty tons,and, finally, thelast portion is submitted to a pressure of fifteen tons. The whole ofthe powder will then have been com pacted into one mass having threedistinct strata, in each of which the combustion will be different, thatportion having received the greatest pressure consuming more slowly thanthe other portions. It will only be necessary, therefore, to calculatethe area of the bore of any other sized cannon and the quantity ofpowder for a charge to be able to apply the proper pressure to producecartridges having the same rate of combustion as in the case of thoseabove described. Inasmuch, however, as the uses to which cartridges ofcompacted powder can be put and the results to be accomplished by themare so various, so must the shapes of themolds and the pressures vary,and those variations in quality and rates of combustion which will befound best for the several purposes can only be ascertained byexperiment. After the powder has received sufficient pressure it isdischarged from the mold, and is then ready for use. It will then becapable of being handled without any danger of breaking, and itsapplication to use is the same as any ordinary cartridge.

Cartridges formed by solidifying the powder into masses of suitableshape on the principle herein described will resist the action ofmoisture for amuch longer period than when in loose grains. It can alsobe wholly protected by inclosing each cartridge within a separate caseor box of thin copper, zinc, papier-mach, &c.; or we can make itwater-proof in itself by varnishing the outside with shellac, collodion,or other material of similar nature which is not soluble in water.

The operation is as follows: Theloose powder having been molded intoform, as described, it is only necessary to insert one of the cylindersinto the gun, and on this the ball, properly patched for the preventionof windage when the charge is fired by percussion-caps or any otherknown primer, as usual. In the case of cannons the molds are also of asize to form the powder into cylinders of the size of their bore, andare ready for use without any cases or other covering, from which itwill be seen that great advantages necessarily result from the abilityto dispense with flannel, moreen, &c., from the use of which arises thechief source of fouling the gun, and the necessity for such frequentspongings is thus avoided.

The powder may also be prepared in various forms by our process for usein loading shells and other explosive missiles.

The principle of acceleration is obtained as follows: The powder is tobe compacted to a greater or less degree of density for differentdegrees of combustibilitythat is to say, the more dense it is the slowerit will be consumed. We therefore form cartridges which shall havedifferent degrees of combustibility at different portions or strata, andthis we accomplish by putting the powder into the mold in successiveportions and compacting them to a greater or less degree of density.Thus the first portion introduced may be submitted to very heavypressure, the next portions to less pressure, and so on.

What we claim is 1. Forming the ordinary granulated gunpowder ofcommerce into solid shape suitable for use as cartridges or for otherpurposes by compacting the same in dry condition within molds bypressure so applied as to condense said powder into the shapessubstantially as described.

2. The cartridge formed of powder in strata of different degrees ofcombustibility, and compacted as described, and for the purposes setforth herein.

. Witnesses:

L. PITKIN,

[L. s. [L. s.

(J. A. DOREMUS.

